Steve Balboni

Steve Balboni played for the New York Yankees and the Kansas City Royals before he bookended brief stints with the Seattle Mariners and the Texas Rangers around a second tour with the Yankees. He owns four World Series rings, one as a player with the Royals and three as an advance scout with the San Francisco Giants after he retired. “I got in at the right time,” Balboni admitted.1

The big first baseman was popular with the fans – not without style and charm. He was prematurely bald, sported a trim mustache, and flashed an engaging smile. He wore a single batting glove and high stirrups. While playing for the Royals, he launched a fund-raising campaign to benefit Kansas City children with serious needs.2 Balboni was one of the genuinely good guys in the sport, “with a soft voice and a huge heart,” according to sportswriter Bob Nightengale.3

He struck out a lot and he homered a lot. And man, those home runs! Far and frequent. He hit a home run every 17.24 at-bats (181 home runs in 3,120 at-bats) – an elite rate.4 To put that statistic in perspective, as of 2025, Balboni ranked 67th all-time, in the neighborhood of Frank Howard, Frank Robinson, Jeff Bagwell, and Rocky Colavito. (In the minors, he hit 239 home runs in 3,493 at-bats, for an even better rate of 14.62 AB/HR.)

About those strikeouts, Balboni said, almost apologetically, “Some guys don’t strike out; I happen to be one who does.”5

Stephen Charles Balboni, born on January 16, 1957, in Brockton, Massachusetts, was the youngest child of Charlie and Gladys (née Pincolini) Balboni – his sister Charlene was born in 1949 and Paula in 1950. His mother did not work outside of the home. His father, who had a high school education and operated a car wash business with his three brothers, moved the family to Manchester, New Hampshire, to open a car wash there when Balboni was about one year old. As a teen, Steve worked with his father.

Balboni attended Memorial High School in Manchester, where he lettered in baseball, basketball, and football.6 His baseball team reached the finals in both his junior and senior years but lost both times. Baseball is a short 14-game season in wintry New Hampshire; yet in his senior year (1975), Balboni hit seven home runs.7 He was Memorial’s Athlete of the Year.8

A twenty-minute drive from Manchester up Route 93 is Concord, New Hampshire, where Brian Sabean and Joe Lefebvre (not related to former Los Angeles Dodger Jim Lefebvre) starred for Concord High School when Balboni starred for Memorial.9 The threads of friendship tying the three together have stretched from coast to coast and have lasted a lifetime.

Balboni was recruited by the University of New Hampshire to play football and baseball. He did not really want to play football, but he figured it was “better than working at a car wash.”10 In 1975, however, Balboni got a call from Bill Livesey, head baseball coach for Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida – one of the top Division II baseball schools in the country, where Sabean and LeFebvre attended. Livesey had taken the Tritons to the NCAA Division II national tournament in each of the previous three seasons.11 The chance to play a highly competitive schedule with a great coach attracted Balboni.

In the spring of 1977, Balboni slugged 26 home runs including the five he hit in the NCAA tournament.12 (With 176 at-bats, his AB/HR rate was a remarkable 6.7713). Eckerd was upset in the D-II national finals but that 1977 baseball team – which included sophomore Balboni; Lefebvre, a junior; Livesey, the head coach; and Sabean, an assistant coach14 – was inducted in the Eckerd College Athletics Hall of Fame in 2008.15

When he returned to the northeast for the summer, Balboni hit 13 home runs for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox in the Cape Cod Baseball League.16 He was selected to the all-star team and was voted the CCBL’s most valuable player and best pro prospect.17 On August 1, 1977, in Fenway Park, the Cape League all-stars defeated the Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League all-stars, 8-3. Balboni clubbed two, three-run home runs over the “Green Monster” and was named the game’s MVP.

Balboni’s nickname is among the more memorable in baseball: “Bye-Bye Balboni.” Many fans believe that Phil Rizzuto or Frank Messer – Yankees broadcasters when Balboni played there – coined the nickname. However, the sobriquet first appeared as a headline in the St. Petersburg Times during Balboni’s sophomore season at Eckerd. In the article, the columnist wrote, “So far this season, Balboni has kissed 18 baseballs bye-bye.”18 Balboni did not like the name. Too often, opposing fans mockingly chanted “Bye-Bye” when Balboni retreated to his dugout following a strikeout. He preferred “Bones” (or “Bonesy”) from bal-BONE-ee, or even “Balboa” from the Rocky movies, but those monikers did not stick the way “Bye-Bye” did.19

Balboni capped off his college career in 1978 as a junior, batting .403 with 14 home runs.20 He was named to the American Baseball Coaches Association All-American Team in both his sophomore and junior years. He was voted St. Petersburg’s 1977 Amateur Athlete of the Year.21 In 1978, he was the only Division II player on the first team of The Sporting News College All-America team.22

In June 1978, the Yankees drafted the 6-foot-3, 225-pound junior with the 36-inch aluminum bat in the second round, and Livesey – then working for the Yankees in player development – signed him.23 The bat story is interesting.

During the 1976 MLB lockout, players from the Pittsburgh Pirates and other clubs worked out at Eckerd College Field. Balboni found – and used with good success in college and in Cape Cod – a 36-inch aluminum bat that Willie Stargell left behind when the strike ended.24 When Balboni advanced to Single-A with the Fort Lauderdale Yankees in 1978, however, he had some trouble adjusting to wood bats; by 1979, he adapted.25 Leading the Yankees in most categories – and leading the league with 26 homers – Balboni was voted MVP by the Florida State League’s managers and official scorers.26

The following year, Balboni advanced to Double-A with the Nashville Sounds in the Southern League. He smashed three home runs on May 18 to give him 20 in his first 36 games.27 He led the league with 34 home runs and 122 RBIs, batted a career-high .301 and earned his second MVP award in two years.

In 1981, Balboni jumped to the Columbus Clippers in the International League (Class AAA). When Yankees’ catcher Rick Cerone went down with a broken thumb, with veteran first-basemen Jim Spencer off to a sluggish 1-for-17 start and Bob Watson nursing a groin injury, the Yankees called up Marshall Brant. Brant was the reigning MVP in the IL, the only Clipper to have his uniform number retired,28 and the other half of the Clippers’ slugging “B & B Boys” (with Balboni).29 However, the Yankees erred by promoting Brant before the rules allowed.30 The beneficiary of the Yankees’ mistake was Balboni; as Brant returned to Ohio, Balboni jumped on the next flight to New York City.31

On April 22, 1981, Balboni made his major-league debut in Yankee Stadium against the Detroit Tigers. In his first at-bat, he drove the ball to deep left-centerfield off rookie Howard Bailey for a triple and he scored when Bucky Dent hit into a fielder’s choice. In the seventh inning, relief pitcher Dan Shatzeder walked Balboni on four pitches to drive home the go-ahead run as the Yankees won, 7-2. Balboni appeared in one more game in April before he was sent back to Columbus.

During the 1981-1983 seasons, Balboni was a frequent passenger on the “Steinbrenner Shuttle,” so-named for Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and his perpetual roster maneuvering.32 In 1981, the Yankees had Watson and his back-up Dave Revering on the roster, and in 1982, they traded for John Mayberry and signed free agent Dave Collins – an estimated $2.4 million deal that The Daily News said represented Steinbrenner at his “manic worst”33 – all of which blocked Balboni’s advancement. It was the same old song in 1983, with Balboni able to unseat neither outfielder-turned-first-baseman Ken Griffey Sr. nor rookie Don Mattingly. Balboni appeared in only 69 games for the Yankees in those three years, about half of them after September 1 roster expansion, and hit only seven homers.34 The Yankees made it to the playoffs and the World Series in 1981; Balboni did not.

In Columbus, on the other hand, Balboni was formidable. He tallied 33 homers in 1981 and 32 in 1982 (one more than Brant) to lead the IL both years, running his streak to four consecutive years in which he led his league in home runs. He added 27 home runs to his resumé in 1983. His total of 92 home runs with Columbus was an all-time Clipper best.35 Twice he hit two home runs in one inning.36 The Clippers finished in first place in the regular season in 1981 and in 1983 and won the Governor’s Cup playoff in 1981.37 Rather than feeling discouraged about not getting more time in New York, the slugger embraced his Columbus years – at least outwardly – as a “great experience.”38

On December 8, 1983, the Kansas City Royals acquired  Balboni and pitcher Roger Erickson in a trade that sent middle reliever Mike Armstrong and minor-league catcher Duane Dewey to New York. The rebuilding Royals, who failed to make the post-season in John Schuerholz’s first two seasons as general manager (1982 and 1983), were looking for a power bat.39 “I just want to get the chance to play every day and see if I can do the job,” Balboni said before the 1984 season began.40

Dick Howser, who became KC’s manager in the second half of 1981, may have had some inside information on Balboni; Howser was the Yankees’ manager in 1980 when Balboni crushed Double-A pitching with the Sounds. Regarding the whispers about Balboni’s fielding, Howser said, “Down at spring training, Gene Michael told me, ‘You’ll be surprised at how well Steve can play first base.’ His range is deceiving. For a big guy, he’s very good.”41

About Howser, Balboni said, “I owe him everything. He was such a big part of my career.”42

Before Balboni reported to the Royals’ camp in Fort Myers, Florida, he met the woman he would marry. Each January, Balboni drove his parents to Tampa, Florida, so they could get a break from the Northeast winters. While waiting for the start of spring training, Balboni would work out at the University of Tampa, where his friend Sabean coached baseball. In January 1984, however, Balboni was involved in a minor automobile accident in New Hampshire and his folks, not wanting to wait for the car to be repaired, flew to Florida instead. Balboni, then, was available to attend the wedding in New Jersey of his friend and former roommate, Paul Boris, before continuing south.43

At the ceremony, Balboni met Eve Alexander, a friend of the bride. A St. Louis native who lived in New Jersey and studied at Syracuse University,44 Eve worked as a rug and tapestry weaver at the time. The couple got married on July 24, 1984, and lived near Kansas City while Balboni played for the Royals.

When the 1984 season began, Balboni pressed a little bit, but by June he found his groove. In one stretch of 14 games from June 23 through July 6, Balboni smashed 10 home runs, including four in three games twice.45

Despite some injuries that kept him out of the lineup for 19 games between late July and early September, Balboni enjoyed another hot streak over the final 23 games of the season, batting .329 and slugging .659 with seven home runs.46 He led the Royals in home runs (28) and runs batted in (77), and helped the team finish in first place in the AL West. Schuerholz and Howser were thrilled with the Yankee castoff.47

On the debit side of the ledger, Balboni struck out 139 times, most on the team. In August he set an American League record for non-pitchers when he struck out in nine consecutive at-bats.48 However, with experience, the increase in steady playing time, and the help of hitting coaches Lee May (1984-1986) and Hal McRae (1987), Balboni’s strikeout rate was better in 1985, 1986, and 1987.49

The counterbalance to Balboni’s strikeouts was his raw power. The modern advanced statistic known as “ISO,” or “isolated power,” is calculated as slugging percentage minus batting average. Balboni’s ISO ranks among the elite. In his first year with the Royals, when the league average for ISO was .134 – and still several years before baseball’s Steroid Era when ISO spiked across the board – Balboni’s ISO was a remarkable .253.50 His .222 ISO over the 1981-1990 major-league seasons ranked him third among all major-leaguers (first in the American League) who had a minimum of 3,000 plate appearances during that time period. Only Darryl Strawberry and Mike Schmidt did better.51

When the 1985 season began, Balboni was the starting first baseman for his team for the first time in his major-league career. He responded with a spree of 10 hits, three home runs, and eight RBIs from April 15 to 21 to earn the AL Player of the Week Award.52 He posted career highs that year with 146 hits, 36 home runs, 88 RBIs (which he tied in 1986), 74 runs, and 28 doubles. He even had one stolen base – his only steal in the majors.53 His 36 homers broke the Kansas City Royals record for most home runs in a season, a record which remained intact for 32 seasons.54

Balboni’s fielding was not to be overlooked. His 1,686 chances, 1,573 putouts, and “range factor per 9 innings”55 of 10.55 led all AL first basemen. With only 12 errors, his .993 fielding percentage was a shade behind the .995 put up by Mattingly of the Yankees, the 1985 AL MVP and Gold Glove winner.

Balboni struggled at the plate with a .221 average in September and October of the regular season, and he remained cold in the 1985 AL Championship Series against Toronto when he went 3-for-25, although his RBI single in the bottom of the eighth in Game Three gave the Royals their first win. Led by AL MVP runner-up George Brett and the Royals’ pitching staff, Kansas City battled back from a three-games-to-one hole to beat the Blue Jays in the best-of-seven playoff, and they got back to the World Series for the second time in franchise history.56

On October 19, the NL champion St. Louis Cardinals came to Kansas City for Game One of the World Series. By the time the clubs got on I-70 and traveled east to St. Louis for Game Three, the underdog Royals were down two games to none. (Balboni went 2-for-8 and knocked in the first of the three runs the club scored in Kansas City.). After winning two of the three games in St. Louis (where Balboni went 2-for-10), the Comeback Kids headed back home.

Game Six was a nail-biter. The Cardinals went ahead 1-0 on Brian Harper’s pinch-hit, RBI single with two outs in the top of the eighth inning off the Royals’ hard-luck hurler, Charlie Leibrandt.57 Each team went out quietly in their next half-inning, and Kansas City was down to its last three outs.

The lead-off batter in the bottom of the ninth, pinch-hitter Jorge Orta, bounced the ball to Jack Clark at first, who tossed the ball to Todd Worrell covering, as umpire Don Denkinger emphatically signaled “Safe!” – a call that Denkinger later admitted he missed. Journalist Phil Ellenbecker wrote in the Sedalia (Missouri) Democrat that it wasn’t Denkinger who cost the Cardinals the 1985 World Series; rather, Steve Balboni did.58 Here’s what happened.

While the Cardinals were still fuming over what should have been the first out, Balboni stepped to the plate. He lifted the first pitch high above the Royals’ dugout as Clark circled underneath it, but the ball – catchable by Clark’s own account59 – fell to the track. Exasperated Cardinal fans knew that should have been the second out. Balboni fouled the next pitch back with a swing so ferocious that play-by-play announcer Al Michaels exclaimed, “And Balboni [was] trying to hit that one onto the freeway.”60 The count was 0-and-2 to the man who led both leagues that year with 166 strikeouts in the regular season and already had 12 in the post-season.61 He was facing a pitcher who tied a World Series record just two nights earlier by fanning six consecutive batters. As 41,628 fans held their breath, Balboni pulled Worrell’s third pitch, a low outside fastball, through the hole into left field, putting runners on first and second with no outs – a good piece of clutch hitting.

What happened after that was exhilarating for Royals fans – and heartbreaking for Cardinal fans: the Darrell Porter passed ball; the Dane Iorg looping single to right to drive in two runs and end Game Six; and the 11-0 thrashing by the Royals the next day to give them the Series. Balboni went 8-for-25 with five walks, two runs scored, and three RBIs – two of them in Game Seven with a single through the same hole between third and short that he found the night before.

After his big 1985 season and despite his good start in 1986, Balboni sighed, “It kinda went downhill from there.”62 He missed the last 23 games of the season with back pains and was told that he would require surgery.63 However, during the 1986-87 off-season, after rehab and other strengthening exercises, Balboni improved and the team doctors determined that the discs were bulging but not ruptured, so he did not need surgery.64 Nevertheless, his playing time dropped off significantly in 1987, first under new manager Billy Gardner , and then under John Wathan, who took over when Gardner was fired in August.65

Although he broke camp with KC in 1988, Balboni was placed on waivers on May 27.66 “I was surprised when Kansas City let me go,” he said. “But I shouldn’t have been.”67 He signed with the Seattle Mariners and hit .251 with 21 homers and 61 RBIs. After the 1988 season, Balboni won his 1989 salary arbitration. He was sure that was the reason Seattle traded him to the Yankees in March 1989 for minor-league pitcher Dana Ridenour.68

The 32-year-old’s role in New York was to platoon at DH, to pinch-hit, and to provide insurance for Mattingly who suffered with his own fitful back ailment. Yankees GM Syd Thrift, who made the deal, scoffed at those who scoffed at him. “As it turned out, in 300 at-bats Balboni hit 17 home runs, which tied outfielder/DH Mel Hall for third best on the club, and drove in 59 runs, the fourth best total [actually, third best] on the team [in 1989],” said Thrift. “What’s wrong with those numbers?”69

Balboni matched the 17 homers he hit in 1989 with 17 in 1990. However, his batting average and strikeout rate both slipped in the wrong direction. In the spring of the following year, the Yankees cut him loose before they headed north. Balboni cast about for two months before the Texas Rangers picked him up and assigned him to their Triple-A club in the American Association (AA) – the Oklahoma City 89ers – in anticipation of first baseman Dean Palmer’s call-up. Balboni chalked up his highest batting average (.269) and OPS (.864) since he left Columbus; even with only 339 at-bats, his 20 homers tied him for second best in the AA.70

Balboni got off to a fast start in 1992. By May 8, he already had one-third of the 30 home runs he hit that year to lead the American Association.71 Bye-Bye Balboni was back! In Game Two of the 1992 Championship Series against the Buffalo Bisons, Balboni hit a dramatic pinch-hit home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, to tie the game that the 89ers won in the 11th. The four-game sweep over the favored Bisons gave Oklahoma City its first AA championship.

After the series, Texas granted Balboni free agency. The still-slugging 35-year-old targeted Japan or the expansion teams in Florida and Colorado as his next move, but they did not pan out. So, he re-signed with Oklahoma City for 1993. He led the league again with his 36 home runs. It marked the sixth time that he led his league in homers. Again he was named an AA all-star.72

Before he traveled to Texas as a September call-up with the Rangers, Oklahoma City honored their star with Steve Balboni Appreciation Night. The watch he received from his teammates “meant more to me than anything,” Balboni said.73 He was released by the Rangers after appearing in just two games.

The Royals gave him one more chance when they signed him for the 1994 season; however, he was released before the season began. It was time for Bonesy, at age 37, to retire.

The Balboni family – his wife Eve and their three sons, Daniel, Matthew, and Michael (who in 1994, were ages 9, 7, and 3) – had settled in central New Jersey where Eve’s family still lived. The two franchises for which he logged the most playing time were good to Balboni. The Yankees hired him to do promotional and outreach engagements including fantasy camps, clinics, old-timer’s games, and the like.74 The Royals hired him as a hitting coach for the Spokane (Washington) Indians in the Northwest League (Short Season Class A) in 1998, and for the Wilmington (Delaware) Blue Rocks in the Carolina League (Advanced Class A) in 1999 and 2000.

In January 2001 Balboni accepted a manager’s position with the Vermont Expos, Montreal’s affiliate in the New York Penn League (Short Season Class A). He took the job to get closer to home but learned that he preferred working as a hitting coach, so he did just that in the St. Louis Cardinals’ farm system from 2002 through 2006.

After the 2006 season Balboni came home to Jersey once again. He helped as an assistant coach for his youngest son’s high school and American Legion teams. As soon as Mikey was out of high school in 2009, Balboni contacted Brian Sabean, then with the San Francisco Giants, to ask if he had any openings. Sabean had a scouting job available covering the New York area. Although Balboni had no experience as a scout, he took a shot at it. In 2010 Balboni moved over to advance scouting, which he preferred, and where he re-connected with his other college pal, Joe Lefebvre. Balboni held that job for ten years, including the three years the Giants won the World Series – 2010, 2012, and 2014.

Balboni fully retired after the 2019 season. At the time of this writing, he and Eve, a self-employed jewelry designer, lived in New Jersey. Their first son, Dr. Dan Balboni – married with two children – was the director of psychological and social services at a hospital and school in New Jersey for children and adults with developmental disabilities; Matthew was a retired Baltimore policeman; and Michael was an executive chef at a Michelin star restaurant in New York City.

Balboni has been inducted in the hall of fame associated with almost every organization for which he played:

• Manchester Memorial High School Athletics Hall of Fame, in 1994
• Cape Cod Baseball League Hall of Fame, in 2006
• Eckerd College Athletics Hall of Fame, as a member of the 1977 Baseball Team in 2008 and individually in 2020
• Columbus Baseball Hall of Fame75
• International League Hall of Fame, in 2011
• Sunshine State Conference Athletics Hall of Fame, in 2016
• Oklahoma City Triple-A Baseball Hall of Fame, in 2024

Last revised: March 3, 2025

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to Steve Balboni for his telephone interviews with the author. Also, to Cassidy Lent, manager of reference services at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, for supplying copies of news clippings from the Balboni file. Finally, to journalist Phil Ellenbecker and the communications and statistics departments at Eckerd College and the Columbus Clippers for confirming information used herein.

This biography was reviewed by Gregory H. Wolf and David Bilmes and checked for accuracy by members of SABR’s fact-checking team.

Sources

In addition to the sources shown in the Notes, the author used Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org.

Notes

1 Balboni spoke with the author by telephone on August 16 and September 18, 2024, and followed-up with several e-communications – hereafter, “Balboni-Pasculli Interview.”

2 Balboni and his wife, Eve, launched “Bye Bye Bats for Kids,” a fund-raising campaign to benefit Marillac School for Children, a non-profit agency in Kansas City for children with learning disabilities and emotional problems.

3 Bob Nightengale, “‘Bye Bye’ Balboni Loyal to Royals, But He’s a Giant Now,” USA TODAY Sports, October 19, 2014. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2014/10/19/steve-balboni-1985-royals-world-series-giants-scout/17579973. Accessed September 17, 2024.

4 For official statistical purposes, strikeout percentage is calculated using plate appearances while home run percentage uses at-bats.

5 Randy Covitz, “Balboni Accepts the Whiffs to Get His Rips,” Kansas City Times, July 26, 1985: D-1.

6 As of this writing, only three other Manchester Memorial Crusaders made it to the big leagues: Mike Flanagan, Don Florence, and Chris Lambert.

7 Hugh Owen, “Balboni Assaulting SL Records,” (Montgomery) Alabama Journal, June 4, 1980: 42.

8 Steve Balboni, William J. Weiss Players’ Questionnaire, January 25, 1979.

9 Sabean attended Eckerd College (1974-1978), coached with the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox in the Cape Cod League (1978), St. Leo College (1979-1980), and the University of Tampa (1980-1984). He then worked in scouting and player development for the New York Yankees (1985-1992) and in the front office for the San Francisco Giants (1993-2023). Lefebvre, who also attended Eckerd (1974-1977), was drafted by the Yankees in 1977 and played six seasons in the majors (1980-1986). He hit home runs in his first two big league games. Beginning in 1987, Lefebvre served in various coaching and scouting roles with the Philadelphia Phillies, the Yankees, the Arizona Diamondbacks, and the Giants (sources: SABR MLB Team Employee Database and The Baseball Cube.com).

10 Steve Balboni, “The Road to a Major League Baseball Career,” presentation by The Old Guard of Summit, New Jersey, September 17, 2024 video recording. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kNkhxXsL6k. Accessed October 6, 2024 – hereafter, the “2024 OGSNJ video” – @6:16.

11 Livesey was Eckerd’s head coach from 1972 to 1977.

12 Larry Harnly, “Glaum Hurls Riverside to NCAA Crown,” The Sporting News, June 18, 1977: 40.

13 Balboni’s college AB/HR statistics can be calculated from data available on the Baseball Cube web site, https://www.thebaseballcube.com/content/stats/college~1977~20736/ and https://www.thebaseballcube.com/content/stats/college~1978~20736.

14 Sabean was a junior but had to quit playing due to an injury and became Livesey’s assistant coach.

15 Balboni, LeFebvre, Livesey, and Sabean are all inductees in the Eckerd College Athletics Hall of Fame individually as well.

16 Lou Pavlovich, “All-America 1978: Horner and Gibson Stand Out in Selections,” The Sporting News, July 8, 1978: 11,42. – Note: In 1976, Balboni played for the Falmouth Commodores in the CCBL, the team that Livesey managed before he took the Eckerd job in 1972.

17 Howard Holcomb, “Fitting Admonition ‘Pare Down,’” Hartford (Connecticut) Courant, September 13, 1977: 46.

18 Bob LeNoir, “Bye-Bye Balboni,” St. Petersburg (Florida) Times, April 27, 1977: 1-C.

19 Steve Wulf, “Hello Balboni, Bye-Bye Ball,” Sports Illustrated Archive. https://vault.si.com/vault/1980/06/09/hello-balboni-bye-bye-ball-the-most-popular-sound-in-nashville-today-is-steve-balbonis-bat-cracking-a-long-home-run. Accessed October 10, 2024; and, Rich Chere, “Steve Balboni: Yanks’ Minor Miracle,” (Newark, New Jersey) Star-Ledger, July 27, 1980: Sec. 5-1,9.

20 Balboni hit a total of 47 home runs at Eckerd – seven in 1976 (Balboni-Pasculli Interview), 26 in 1977, and 14 in 1978 – a record that, as of this writing, still stands (Amanda Green, Assistant Director of Athletics, Marketing and Communications at Eckerd College, personal communications [via e-mail], October 21, 2024).

21 Bob LeNoir, “Sports Salutes Balboni, Eckerd,” St. Petersburg (Florida) Times, February 25, 1978: 20.

22 Steve Balboni, Eckerd College Athletics Hall of Fame. https://eckerdtritons.com/honors/eckerd-college-athletics-hall-of-fame/steve-balboni/54. Accessed October 1, 2014; and, Pavlovich, “All-America 1978”: 42.

23 Livesey left Eckerd to work for the Yankees in 1978. He is credited with being the architect of the Yankees’ player selection and development philosophy that became known as “the Yankee Way.” Andy Martino, The Yankee Way (New York: Doubleday, 2024), 58-75.

24 The Cape Cod League switched to aluminum bats in 1974 as a cost savings measure. It switched back to wood bats after the 1984 season.

25 2024 OGSNJ video @10:51.

26 “MVP, But Not an All-Star,” The Sporting News, September 15, 1979: 36.

27 Staff Reports, “Balboni’s 3 HRs Give Sounds 10-4 Win,” (Nashville) Tennessean, May 19, 1980: 19.

28 info@clippersbaseball.com (“Kevin”), personal communications [via e-mail], September 26, 2024.

29 United Press International, “‘B & B Boys’ Give Clips Split with Tides,” Delaware (Ohio) Gazette, June 15, 1981: 15.

30 Under the rules, because Brant had played for New York in 1980 and was released after August 31, the Yankees could not re-sign Brant until after May 15. The Toronto Blue Jays and the Chicago White Sox, two teams pursuing Brant, challenged the signing and Commissioner Bowie Kuhn agreed. J. David Herman, Almost Yankees: The Summer of ’81 and the Greatest Baseball Team You’ve Never Heard Of (Lincoln, Nebraska: Nebraska Press, 2019), 54-55. See also, Bill Madden, “Yanks Recall Balboni After Bowie KOs Brant,” New York Daily News, April 22, 1981: C-22.

31 Neither the Blue Jays nor the White Sox landed Brant. Instead the Yankees traded him, Ben Callahan, and cash to the Oakland Athletics for Matt Keough in 1983.

32 Herman, Almost Yankees, 22.

33 Anthony McCarron, “Switch Hitting OF Dave Collins Time with New York Yankees Short but Sweet,” New York Daily News, June 12, 2010. https://www.nydailynews.com/2010/06/12/switch-hitting-of-dave-collins-time-with-new-york-yankees-short-but-sweet. Accessed October 7, 2024. – Note: Steinbrenner wanted Collins, who batted .299 and stole 121 bases the previous three years with Cincinnati, for his speed. He batted .253 and stole 13 bases in 1982 and lasted only that one year in New York.

34 Balboni hit his first home run off Tom Underwood of the Oakland Athletics on May 13, 1982. He hit his first grand slam (he had four in his career) on July 26, 1983, off Frank Tanana of the Texas Rangers, the pitcher against whom Balboni hit the most home runs in his career – five – which is a bit surprising, since Tanana allowed only a stingy 1.0 HR/9 innings over his 21-year career. See retrosheet.org and baseball-reference.com.

35 As of this writing, Balboni’s 92 home runs and .580 slugging average still stand as Clippers franchise records; he is third on the franchise all-time RBI list with 265. See Top Ten Career Batting Leaders, 2024 Columbus Clippers Media Guide, 133. https://img.mlbstatic.com/milb-images/image/upload/milb/j5n4q7nuxkacwwrfz0gd.pdf. Accessed September 13, 2024. – Note: What makes the home run record even more amazing is that Balboni played a total of only 292 games for the Clippers in those three years. At that home run pace, had Balboni played full 139-game seasons, he would have hit an average of 44 home runs per year.

36 Minor League Baseball, “International League Hall of Fame Inductees Announced,” January 25, 2011. https://www.milb.com/news/gcs-16497390. Accessed October 22, 2024.

37 Rain wreaked havoc with the post-season schedule to the point where, with Columbus leading the series over the Richmond Braves, the finals were canceled and the Clippers were declared the winners: “With no end to the rain in sight. . . IL president Harold Cooper ruled that the Clippers, by virtue of their 2-1 series lead, IL pennant, and head-to-head advantage during the regular season, would be crowned champions on their own. . . Hank Aaron, the director of Atlanta’s farm system, was furious.” Herman, Almost Yankees, 225-226.

38 Balboni-Pasculli Interview.

39 KC’s starting first baseman in 1980-1983 was Willie Aikens who, although he was among the team’s home run leaders, averaged only 19 homers in those seasons. There was talk before the Royals acquired Balboni that George Brett would move to first base. “At First, Brett Appears Set at Third,” The Sporting News, February 27, 1984: 37.

40 “Royals Say Hello to Bye-Bye,” The Sporting News, December 19, 1983: 42.

41 Bill Richardson, “Royals’ Balboni Has More Than Just Another Pretty Mitt,” Kansas City Star, July 27, 1984: 1C.

42 Nightengale, “‘Bye Bye’ Balboni Loyal to Royals, But He’s a Giant Now.”

43 Balboni-Pasculli Interview.

44 Eve Alexander was the fourth of five children born to Mary Elizabeth (Krimmel) Alexander and Harvey Weston Alexander (1922-1961), who died of a heart attack at age 39. Mary Alexander (1927-2019) re-married, to Norman Gulamerian (1927- 2020) in St. Louis before they and the five children moved east in 1969, first to Brooklyn and then to Watchung, New Jersey, near the headquarters of Mr. Gulamerian’s company, Utrecht Art Supply Corporation.

45 Balboni had 12 two-homer games in his career.

46 Balboni was hit on the right hand by a pitch on July 24 – his wedding day! – and missed one game (“Suddenly Howser Is High on Slaught,” The Sporting News, August 13, 1984: 24); he bruised his left heel when he caught his spike in a seam of the artificial turf in Toronto on July 30 and missed 11 games (see “Balboni: Trip Down Aisle, Then Downer,” The Sporting News, September 24, 1984: 7; and, Balboni game logs in baseball-reference.com); and he pulled a muscle below his rib cage while batting on August 28 and missed seven games (“Wilson’s Speed Has Royals in the Race,” The Sporting News, September 10, 1984: 18) – Note: On September 7 in his first game back after the rib injury, he hit a three-run homer to put the Royals up for good in a 5-4 win over Seattle.

47 The Royals made it to the postseason the first two years Balboni played in Kansas City; the Yankees did not. Armstrong, the reliever for whom the Yankees traded Balboni, had only limited success in New York. Steinbrenner claimed Armstrong was “damaged goods” when the Royals traded him and, over Schuerholz’s objection, sought to have the deal undone. (“Royals’ GM Blasts Steinbrenner,” New York Daily News, March 30, 1984: 85.) It seemed another example of the Yankees being “out-front-officed” in those tumultuous Steinbrenner years. Bill Madden, Steinbrenner: The Lion of Baseball (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2010), 249.

48 As of this writing, Balboni still holds this record, tied with three others: Reggie Jackson, Bo Jackson, and Yoan Moncada. Strikeout Records for Hitters, Baseball Almanac, https://www.baseball-almanac.com/recbooks/rb_strike1.shtml. Accessed September 12, 2024.

49 Balboni reduced his strikeout rate from 28.5 percent in 1984 to 22.8 percent in 1987. Balboni also appreciated the coaching he later received from Frank Howard, a hitting instructor with both the Seattle Mariners and the New York Yankees, when Balboni played for those two clubs. 2024 OGSNJ video @28:00.

50 Balboni did not have the required number of plate appearances in 1984 to officially rank him on the AL leaderboard with that stellar ISO mark.

51 Balboni maintained a high ISO throughout his career in both the majors and the minors (value and rank within parenthesis): Fort Lauderdale 1979 (.200, 1), Nashville 1980 (.251, 3), Columbus 1981 (.286, 2); Columbus 1982 (.367, 1), Columbus 1983 (.300, 1), Kansas City 1984 (ineligible), Kansas City 1985 (.233, 9), Kansas City 1986 (.223, 7), MLB 1987-1993 (ineligible), Oklahoma City 1991 (.256, 1), Oklahoma City 1992 (.264, 3), Oklahoma City 1993 (.276, 3). What is curious about Balboni’s performance is that he is one of the rare thumpers with an ISO greater than .200 (it was .222) and an on-base percentage less than .300 (it was .293). As one analyst characterized it, “Even sluggers who hit for a low batting average struck enough fear into the opposition that they were often walked enough to produce a good OBP.” (David Pinto, “Power Only,” Baseball Musings, September 18, 2022. https://www.baseballmusings.com/?p=145209. Accessed on October 3, 2024.) The only hitters with at least 3,000 plate appearances from 1981-1990 who fall into this profile, ranked in descending ISO order, are Balboni, Dave Kingman, and Tony Armas. (ISO data was obtained from fangraphs.com and the baseballcube.com.)

52 Steve Balboni Awards, The Baseball Cube. https://www.thebaseballcube.com/content/player/8412/#awards. Accessed October 7, 2024.

53 Balboni’s steal came on the back end of a double steal on July 23, 1985, with Frank White in front.

54 As of this writing, the record has been broken three times: Mike Moustakas hit 38 homers in 2017; Jorge Soler smacked 48 in 2019 and Salvador Perez tied Soler in 2021.

55 Calculated as [9 x (putouts + assists) / innings played.

56 The Royals’ first appearance in the World Series was in 1980, when they lost to Philadelphia.

57 Jim Murray, “Black Cloud Over Leibrandt Is Found to Have Silver Lining,” Los Angeles Times, October 27, 1985. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-10-27-sp-12816-story.html. Accessed October 4, 2024.

58 Phil Ellenbecker, “The Call (1985: Royals v. Cardinals),” Glory in the Fall: The Greatest Moments in World Series History, Peter Golenbock (ed.), (New York: Sterling Publishing, 2010), 270-275.

59 Associated Press, “Deciding Game Not Always the Key,” Bangor (Maine) Daily News, October 28, 1985: 1,9.

60 The MLB Vault production of the 1985 World Series Game Six broadcast (October 26, 1985) is available in its entirety at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Tml85ySvzs. Michaels’ comment occurs at 2:15:50 of the videotape.

61 At the time, the 166 strikeouts were a franchise record for strikeouts in a season, a record which has since been broken several times.

62 2024 OGSNJ video @26:02.

63 Bob Nightengale, “Balboni’s Back Is Big Problem” The Sporting News, September 29, 1986: 20.

64 About 20 years after he retired from playing, Balboni was no longer able to put off the surgery. It was done at Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital in New York by a surgeon who coincidentally met Balboni when he played for Columbia University and Balboni played for Eckerd. OGSNJ video @ 8:58.

65 Howser had to step down as Royals manager midway through the 1986 season after being diagnosed with a brain tumor. Gardner guided the 1987 Royals to a 62-64 record when he was fired on August 27 and replaced by Wathan.

66 The Royals released Balboni in December 1987 because he did not “figure in their plans,” but they re-signed him as a free agent the following February after they failed to land their primary target, free agent Carlton Fisk. Associated Press, “Balboni, Cut Adrift, Seeks a New Home.” St. Petersburg (Florida) Times, February 3, 1988: 5C; and, Associated Press, “Royals Sign Balboni, Seitzer to One-Year Deals,” Salina (Kansas) Journal, February 19, 1988: 13.

67 Larry LaRue, “No One Else Called,” News Tribune (Tacoma, Washington), June 2, 1988: D1.

68 2024 OGSNJ video @27:40. Balboni’s 1988 salary was $350,000. Seattle offered $500,000 for 1989 but Balboni was awarded his $800,000 demand – “the worst, most outrageous and unsupported decision in all my experience,” squawked the representative for the Mariners. Associated Press, “Mariners Blast Balboni’s Award,” Sacramento Bee, February 8, 1989: F8.

69 Syd Thrift and Barry Shapiro, The Game According to Syd (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1990), 260-61. Also, he had the best slugging average (.502) of all American League designated hitters in 1989. Ben Sturtevant, “Balboni Could Fit Bill for Sox,” Boston Globe, April 22, 1990: South Weekly sec., 15.

70 Palmer led the league with 22 homers and Balboni and Rob Maurer were tied for second with 20.

71 T.R. Sullivan, “Rangers Notebook,” Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram, May 10, 1992: B-5.

72 American Association All-Stars, Omaha World-Herald, September 1, 1993: 26. Balboni’s 86 home runs over two-and-a-half years in the Sooner State is still, as of this writing, the franchise career record.

73 T.R. Sullivan, “Blast from Past,” Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram, September 3, 1993: C-1,11.

74 Balboni-Pasculli Interview.

75 Balboni recalls this induction as having occurred in 2009 or 2010. In e-mail communications to the author, the Director of Media Relations of the Columbus Clippers confirmed that Balboni is in the Columbus Baseball Hall of Fame, which covers the entire history of professional baseball in Columbus including the Columbus Buckeyes, the Columbus Senators, the Columbus Red Birds, the Columbus Jets, and the Clippers; however, he was unable to confirm which year Balboni was inducted: “I am working to find that information for all members.”  CSprague@clippersbaseball.com, personal communications [via e-mail], November 6, 12, and 13, 2024.